


epithelial constellations

by skellux



Series: The Papyrus Anthology [1]
Category: Deltarune, Undertale
Genre: Cuddles, Definitely Smoochies, Drabbles, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, How do you even write proper tags?, Multi, One-Shots, Other, Papyrus is so underappreciated so I'm gonna fix that, Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader is gender neutral, Some Fluff, maybe some smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-26 15:00:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19008166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skellux/pseuds/skellux
Summary: A bunch of Papyrus/Reader one-shots and drabbles. Featuring Classic, Stretch, Edge, Mutt... You name it. I'll do it.If you have an idea or a prompt, let me know! I may well write out the ones I like~Papyrus doesn't get nearly enough love and I really, really want to scream about him from the rooftops so here we go.This one's to you, Paps!





	epithelial constellations

**Author's Note:**

> Reader has been living in the Underground for a while and their feelings for Papyrus are very much on the down-low.  
> Papyrus, however, finds himself entranced by the Reader's skin. Reader is very much entranced by, well, Papyrus.  
> Many blushes occur.  
> There are no content warnings for this one!
> 
> This is my first one-shot, so please be kind! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it~!  
> Please leave some suggestions for future one-shots in the comments. <33
> 
> -Skellux

You had been living in the Underground for a few months now, residing within the home of the two skeleton brothers you had now chosen as your family. The construct of time was a tricky one, for the light levels never changed – you had sort of expected some kind of simulation for the Surface’s night and day, but perhaps it had been so long since the sun had shone upon the monsters that dwelled there, they ceased to recall what it looked or felt like. For this reason, you found yourself falling asleep when you felt tired and waking up whenever your body told you to. Luckily for you, the youngest of the brothers, Papyrus, seemed to never rest. Quite often, he was out completing his duties, excelling at them in every way possible, but even you could see he was exhausting himself at times. On this particular evening, so the clock said, you found yourself sunk deep into the rickety couch the brothers owned – you were around the same size as Sans, so it was relatively easy to share his butt-groove that had become a permanent factor within the cushions. Your feet were propped up against a coffee table between yourself and the television which was tuned into a channel that you weren’t really paying much attention to, but you just wanted the background noise. Eventually, you slid off the comfort of the sofa and made your way to the kitchen, deciding that right now you needed a warm beverage. Coffee would do for now, you thought idly, spooning a few granules into a cup you pulled out from one of the cabinets. As you waited for the kettle to boil, your mind wandered to Papyrus’s expression this morning. He had seemed fine, up until he turned to leave – you had caught the downward twist of his smile and the pained expression upon his features, the unhappy furrow of his brows. You had been teased by Alphys before about how yourself and Papyrus would make a lovely couple, and you’d be lying if you hadn’t wanted to admit it. The tall skeleton was gentle and kind, never wanting to hurt a soul. You’d taken to him easily, but he had never come across to you as the type to consider a real relationship – he was simply too busy. You admired how he poured himself into his work and didn’t ever want to tear him away from that anyway. Not that he would ever feel the same way about you anyway. The kettle began to whistle, a slightly irritating whining noise filling your ears as you lost yourself in thought. You hadn’t even heard the front door open and shut quietly. A gentle touch to your shoulder made you jump, knocking the cup off the surface as you turned to face the one who had tried to break your spacing out. Now, however, you were too busy trying to locate the source of the smashing noise that filled your ears, overwhelming your senses. You ducked down at the same time a voice met your ears;

“Oh! Oh, I’ll get it! I am so sorry!!” Unfortunately, they, too, had ducked down, and your foreheads collided sending a shooting pain into your head. You stumbled backwards, landing on your backend rather disgracefully. “Oh!! Oh no, (Y/N), I am so sorry!” Rubbing your head, you looked up towards Papyrus who was leaning over the shattered mess and reaching towards you. Carefully, he stepped over the fragments of china and lifted you up by your shoulders until you were upon your feet once again. You kept your hand upon your forehead until he pried your fingers away with his own and placed his own hand upon the area in which you had collided. “Ah, forgive me, are you hurt?” He lowered his voice, anxiety seeping into his words as you began to feel a pleasant warm feeling seep into the area in which he had covered with his gloved hand.

“’s okay.” You murmured, grasping his elbow with your hand in a vain attempt to pull his hand away, but he wouldn’t budge. “’m fine, honest.”

“Nonsense, hu- AH! (Y/N)! I know how fragile humans can be!” The headache that had begun to pound in your head was slowly disappearing beneath his touch. The tingling feeling that had started upon your developing bruise indicated he started using his magic to undo the injury. You hadn’t realised you’d closed your eyes until the pounding stopped and you opened them once again, finding Papyrus’ face ever so close to yours. A peach-hue glossed over his cheek bones once you caught him, his spare gloved hand mere centimetres from your face. A small, sly smile crept upon your expression and you lifted your other hand to wrap your fingers around his glove-covered wrist, his blush deepening, and even more so once you spoke gently;

“Guess I caught you… _red_ handed…” Papyrus’s sockets narrowed, a small frown upon his expression, but he was smiling.

“Truly, you are awful.” He muttered, pulling his wrist away and brushing a strand of hair from your face. “You must refrain from spending too much time with Sans as, clearly, you are slowly becoming one entity.” Then, he shifted his attention to the various freckles, blemishes and pores that made up your skin. “Human complexion is fascinating.” He blurted, and you jerked away from him, covering your face.

“Wh- what?” You stammered, peering at him from between your fingers. Papyrus moved towards you once again and gently took your hands away from your face so he could study you once again. He had always been fascinated by humans, but you supposed he never really had the chance to observe one so closely before. Perhaps now was the first time he felt comfortable doing so with you… that said, now he was so close to you, you could see the dullness beneath his sockets. He was overworking himself again. You watched him quietly as his gaze trailed to various freckles that made their way down your exposed skin – your neck, your arms, even your hands.

“It’s… extraordinary.” He breathed, his attention snapping back up to your eyes. Bashfully, he smiled. “It’s like you have tiny clusters of stars all over your skin!!” You couldn’t help but smile at him – how could you resist when his sockets were practically twinkling with delight?

“Like constellations?” You asked quietly, earning an arched brow.

“Constellations?” He echoed in wonder. “What are those?” You grinned with embarrassment – it would make sense he didn’t know. He hadn’t ever seen the stars. You wriggled your wrist free from his grip and pulled your phone out of your pocket, tapping against the screen for a few moments before pulling up an image for the skeleton to gander at.

“Here, look,” You murmured turning slightly so he could get a better view of the tiny screen. You couldn’t help but notice how closely he shuffled up next to you, his cheekbone brushing against your own ever so slightly. Trying to restrain the blush upon your face, you pointed at the screen. “This is a series of constellations. The large one is the summer triangle – the tree points are named Vega, Altair and Deneb… But there are more in the triangle, see? This one is Cygnus, like a swan. That one is Aquila, which is Latin for Eagle and this one is…” You had glanced up at him to find he was no longer looking at the phone, but rather at you. A gentle smile had cemented upon his features and his gaze was softer than you’d ever seen it – so much so that you pressed your lips together and leaned away slightly. “Are you okay?” You found yourself asking rather involuntarily. Papyrus breathed a chuckle through his nasal cavity and turned to pull out a dustpan and brush from one of the cupboards, sweeping the floor of the mess in one swooping motion. He looked as though he were trying to distract himself. Strange – usually Papyrus liked to address things head on. After disposing of the mess in the trashcan in the corner, he placed the items where he had pulled them from and suddenly began fiddling with the cupboards again, seemingly making two cups of coffee this time around. “…Paps?” You murmured gently, and he turned his head towards you by just a fraction, his eyes closed as a bashful grin took residence upon his skull, a whisper of a blush across his cheekbones and nasal cavity.

“Ah, yes. I am fine.” He bowed his head in the direction of the cups once again, taking his time to deposit the coffee granules into the cups while the kettle boiled. “Just… You miss the surface, do you not?” He said suddenly, and your brows rose in surprise. Sliding the phone back into your pocket you turned your body to him and folded your arms against your chest in a more relaxed manner than a hostile one. Truthfully, you weren’t sure if you did any more. In more recent days, you hadn’t even thought about the surface. But now Papyrus’s expression had grown crestfallen, his smile seemingly half-hearted and strained. “You speak so passionately about the stars and these ‘constellations’. You must surely miss your family. I have read my fair share on the Surface world but… I will likely never experience it first-hand.” He turned his head to you once again. “Do you want to go home?” You found yourself moving on autopilot towards him and pulling gently upon his elbow to make him turn towards you. Once he had, you wrapped your arms around his torso and buried your face into his scarf, holding him tightly. It took him a moment to reciprocate the embrace, one arm coiling around your waist and the other found its way into your hair. You could feel him playing with it idly, his breath ruffling the top of your head slightly; an odd feeling, as though weren’t sure if skeletons had lungs… but you supposed there was a lot about them that you just didn’t know yet.

“My home is… wherever _you_ are.” You murmured against his chest, a little muffled but you heard him stifle a singular chuckle and press his chin into the top of your head affectionately. “I could never return to the surface without you… and Sans.” You added quickly, but the tall skeleton merely chuckled once again. He pulled away a fraction, his arm remaining around your waist as he looked down at you, other hand moving from your hair to your cheek, and then coming to a stand-still beneath your chin, tilting your head back a fraction to watch your expression as it shifted to embarrassment once again. You couldn’t retain the blush. How could you when he was looking at you like that? His expression was gentle and affectionate, something glimmering within his sockets like a crackle of orange that you’d never seen before. It was unidentifiable, but you knew it was a good thing. When he brushed his thumb against your bottom lip, your breathing hitched in your throat and his smile softened further as he leaned towards you a little, but he hesitated once he got close to you. Your eyes had widened slightly, and, at some point, you found one of your hands upon his chest and the other hovering between you and him. It took you a few moments to realise he was asking for consent, his sockets searching for an answer within your body language. To answer, you lifted your awkwardly hovering hand to his cheek, the corners of your mouth twitching into a nervous smile. Papyrus seemed to have to retain a small chuckle again, a gentle huff of air emanating from his nose before he closed the distance, pressing his teeth against your lips. It was nothing like you had thought it would be – instead of bone against skin, it felt more like the sensation he had projected upon you while healing the bump upon your forehead. You realised, after a heartbeat or two, that he was using his magic to make the kiss gentle, rather than risking grazing your lips with his teeth. You found you didn’t mind either way – he tasted sweet and warm and like everything you had hoped he would. You could feel the emotions he wanted to convey and how long he had tried to convey them for. His hand returned to your hair once again, intertwining a few strands between his gloved fingers. You could feel your heart hammering within you, and beneath your fingertips his soul thrummed in unison with your own beneath his ribs and his battle body. He felt exactly as you did. He felt like _home_.

It came to an end before you wanted it to, you could have stayed there for hours, but the expression upon his features was worth it. He was gazing at you with such a tender and loving countenance that you couldn’t tear your eyes away. Neither of you needed to say what you were thinking – the air around you purred with the manifestation of the words. Your souls were speaking for you. Papyrus’s attention swept over your skin once again and he grinned through a deep orange hue that had seemed to take a permanent residency across his features.

“Yes, I do believe the technical term should be, ‘epithelial constellations’!!” He spoke suddenly, his voice creeping up a few decibels from sheer nervousness. You smiled gently, taking his hands gently within your own as he glanced downwards at them, pausing before lacing his fingers together with yours.

“You’re adorable.” You replied, and rose to the tips of your toes to plant a kiss upon the bridge of his nose.


End file.
